As I sat in the Louisville airport, reading "Blue Like Jazz", I got tired and decided to move across the terminal to the television playing MSNBC. I sat down next to some soldiers. I started talking to them a little, about the war and what they thought was going on and I could tell that these guys were officers, but I had no idea what rank.

One told me about the insurgency, and basically about the plan for Iraq that had begun to unfold on the news. He talked about how different Middleeastern culture is and how similar the war is to Bosnia. The strategy has become rather simple - get on the ground everybody wants and keep them all in their corner. The Sunnis cannot get along with each other much less the Kurds or Shiites. He was well spoken, and seemed pretty content with life.

People came by and thanked them, and they stood at relative attention and shook hands. Others studiously avoided them.

That same guy sat right behind me on the plane to Atlanta. The flight was turbulent. I asked if that was like an Army flight. Then he told about the death-spiral that leads into Baghdad - spinning endlessly to avoid rocket attack. Finally, I asked him what his rank was - he said General. I was humbled but also reassured. I thanked him for his hard work and told him that I prayed for him. I asked if he was going back and he said no, but that he deployed others over there. I said, well, somebody has got to tell everybody where to go.

Humble leaders like him are a blessing from God. I hope to listen more to the orders that Jesus is giving.